Whitman�s mysticism and transcendentalism in �Song of Myself�
Mysticism is not really a coherent philosophy of life, but more a temper of mind. A mystic vision is intuitive; a mystic feels the presence of divine reality behind and within the ordinary world of sense and perception. He feels that God and the supreme soul animating all things are identical. He believes that all things in the visible world are but forms and manifestations of the one Divine life. The self-proclaimed �American Bard� Walt Whitman is undoubtedly a mystic and transcendental poet. He shocked his contemporaries by his embrace of the sensual; �Song of Myself� has been regarded as a prolonged expression of an experience that is essentially mystical. The beautiful sampling of Whitman�s poetry from �Song of Myself� offers a glimpse into the spiritual side of his most radical themes�love for country, love for others and love for self. Whitman seeks to tear down the belief the spiritual resides only in the religious and embraces the idea that nothing is more divine than humanki...